The Vloz'ress are rapidly shifting from the mad/evil/grimy clan there were suppose to be to the clever/enlightened/ridicoulous clan they appear to be now...

The berserker that talk about philosopy and Kharla with the duck in the bath are really too much for my taste.

I like characters that are neither good or evil. So i liked the berserker refusing to kill it's enemies, even if he was suppose to be evilly tainted and merciless. But hear him talk about politics and hear that Kharla "would not kill a fly" after all what we have seen and read about her...

I suppose sometimes evil characters are just good as evil characters.

The whole theme of drowtales has always been about subjective views of good and evil.

Also: Kharla's rear is ghetto butt-tastic.

Ok, but view Kharla in the bath with the duck when she was suppose to kill people like flies, control them like puppets and transform them in dolls and to play with them...i like seeing Darth Vader playing with a playstation.

But Vader wasn't insane.

And this is why this scene of Kharla in her bath playing with a rubber ducky is actually scary if you stop to think about it.

The woman is insane. Completely insane. And that means completely unpredictable. A sane person can be negotiated with. A sane person can listen to reason.

Insane people have their own logic. They can happily be playing with a rubber ducky one minute and then disembowling someone the next. And you have no idea which way they will jump.

Nuc'Sol Beldrobbaen wrote:I dont think Kharla is insane, I think she simply has the mind of a child.

Because all children love to gut and bone others alive. Or whatever organs get lost in the doll-making process.

I'm sure Senekha gave her the idea in the first place.

Sene: Hrmm, that servant is talking against the Clan... Kharla, sweetie... You love dollies, right?
Kharla: *nods eagerly*
Sene: *grabs 'conspiring' servant* Here you go! One 'Make-your-own-doll' kit! All you need to do is remove a few things. *hands Kharla tools and servant*
Kharla: Glee!

Sorry for the tardiness, stupid DSL still down at the new place. <3 company interwebs accesses. Off to get ready for a long night of work!

Also, yeah, the scene is very telling of viewpoints. Our berserker knows dear Kharla, as we all have been told and expected, is nothing more than a figurehead, someone who was made by Sene'kha to have the abilities to do these horrid things. We also know that her sanity is always an issue. One moment she's semi-lucid, thoughtful, the next screaming at a mirror and gnawing on her fingers.

The part that should be questioned is not some supposed great shift from what the Vloz'ress seemed to be, but really why this guy, who seems to see all the pieces very well, HASN'T put two and two together. Kharla appears, completely batshit, brought in by Sene and risen to the status of ruler. Sene tells everyone it's to fool and scare the clans, yet seems to rule herself while claiming that it is only until all the clans have fallen and no rulers are needed. And he smiles and nods and believes, because having had everything taken from him, he's willing to believe.

Someone made a reference to a song involving 'moving through the nazi lines.' Someone else said Sene is like Stalin. I agree, though while the Vloz'ress may see themselves in a metaphorical sense as being the ones to cut through the lines, in reality they're shaping up to be those people. Germans weren't evil, they fell to the call of a man who offered something greater, not horridly much, but better than what they were given after WWI. And so enthralled were they with the initial call they didn't hear the rest of the ramblings, the obvious things until it was too late, and the base of power was set, and rebelling would have those who want to continue holding their seat of power send death your way.

The Vloz'ress have been incouraged to use insanity as their weapon, to confuse. It's confusing them too, because they will see the logic in anything Sene puts out now. And when she turns around and shows her true hand, by then her power will be set, and when everyone realizes what is happening, they will resign themselves to the fact that struggling will end in death, that they are already slaves to the system.

Of course a berserker would be talking like this, it's the only belief he has left to stand on, and he'll continue to believe it until absolute proof shows it's completely wrong, and there is no way to twist his views to reality. Or death.

Ron may be shouting disbelief at many of the facts, but he's also shouting disbelief that his opponent so easily deludes himself. Perhaps the Kyorl don't really have the be-all-end-all of beliefs, but at the same time Ron probably already sees that the beserker is fooling himself on so many levels, that there WILL still be rule, and even if it isn't Kharla, it'll be somebody, most likely Sene, that will benefit from this power play. Because while wars are drummed up on ideals to get people to fight, most of them have very superficial goals planned by the heads. If there is no materialistic benefit, the will of the leaders to find ways to keep their followers going dissipates.

Perhaps Sene has a vision to dispose of the leadership of other clans, but in her mind with such a grand vision, who better to lead then than herself?

"If you're screwing up and people stop telling you, they've given up on you. Your critics are the ones that love you the most." - Paraphrased from Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture"

The way things are ruined everything for me. Sene'kha wants to make drastic changes to the way things are. Drastic changes from everything ruined means things will be better for me and those I care for.

No matter what, order is needed to preserve the past and progress toward the future.